


Hidden Damage

by darknessfalls1321



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 06:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessfalls1321/pseuds/darknessfalls1321
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes we don’t always know when we’re hurt. It’s especially hard for Nathan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden Damage

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prequel for my other story Check-up. I don't have a beta so apologies for any mistakes. I tried to catch them all.

Nathan couldn’t help but think this was going to be a great day. He had met Audrey at the diner and they were having pancakes together before starting their day. It was a beautiful sunny fall day, his favorite time of year when he could get away with wearing a light jacket and not have people think he was overdressed or underdressed. And on top of that Audrey looked especially good in her dark blue jeans, white tank, denim shirt and dark blue jacket. With light coming through the window behind Audrey, it gave her an angelic glow.

He was so lost in his musings, that he was surprised to see Audrey’s fingers snapping in front of his face.

“Hello? Anyone in there?” Audrey smirked. “Earth to Nathan. Better come in for landing soon, we need to leave for work.”

“Sorry. Just thinking.” Nathan blushed at being caught staring.

“Want to talk about it?” Audrey looked at him concerned.

Nathan thought it over. Ever since Audrey had come into town, he knew there was something special about her. After losing Jess, he figured he just wasn’t meant to be with someone. Despite that he still had fallen in love with his partner and best friend. Ever since she had been kidnapped, they hadn’t talked about it. She probably didn’t feel the same and he knew she was too important to the town for him to act on it. No, it was best to just stay friends and partners.

“No. I’m good.” Pulling out his wallet, he put more than enough to cover the bill for both of them and a tip before Audrey had a chance to argue. 

Ignoring the glare she was giving him, he slid out of the booth and waited for her to join him. 

“Duke called me and asked me to stop by later. Said he needed the police and that he had a right to it. Kept going on and on about how he’s a law abiding and tax paying citizen. Told him he wasn’t but that’d I’d send a squad car. That just set him off on how I owed him for all the help with Troubles he’s been doing lately.” Nathan shrugged, “Easiest way to shut him up was to just go down there myself.”

“That’s not very reassuring. Want me to come along?” His words caused her to frown as they walked out of the diner. 

“No, it’s probably nothing. You know Duke. But first I have some meetings with the town council.” Walking to his truck, he smiled at her over the hood and shrugged.  
Audrey opened her car door but shook her head. 

“Yeah, I know Duke, which is why I don’t think it can be that simple.” Audrey smirked, “In fact, when did we switch roles. Usually, I’m the one giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

“You’re rubbing off on me.” Nathan simply replied as he moved to get into his car. He stopped, when she called out to him.

“Hey, call me if it’s anything more than that. 

Nathan nodded his head.

 

******************************

Nathan just gave Duke a look as though he was wasting his time as he slammed his truck door closed and approached Duke, who was standing on the pier next to some cargo boxes by the Grey Gull. 

“Okay Duke, what do you want?”

Duke couldn’t stop the smile growing on his face. Him and Nathan may not always get along and he may love to get under Nathan’s skin but he knew that he could always count on him. 

“I’m expecting a package,” pointing his finger at Nathan. “An honest-to-God, legitimate and legal package.”

“Then why do you need me?” Nathan stopped in front of him and stared at him skeptically. 

“The package is legit, it’s a pair of Ming vases that I purchased from overseas. I even have the receipt inside. It’s the courier that might have some issues with me.” Scratching his head, Duke gave him a helpless shrug. 

“I’m the interim chief, not your personal bodyguard.” Nathan crossed his arms and couldn’t wait to hear what Duke had to say.

Duke put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder and ignored the glare directed at his hand. 

“Just stand there and look just your usual intimidating, gruff self. It’s your duty to protect the citizens of this fine town and that includes me.” Pulling back his hand, Duke simply shrugged. “Besides you owe me.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Duke wasn’t wrong. Nathan and Audrey had relied on him time and time again for help with the Troubles. As annoying and frustrating as he was, Duke could be a nice guy and he did help them out. That didn’t mean Nathan trusted him completely. He couldn’t forget the last time Duke used him for his law enforcement status.

“Fine. But this is the last time you use me because I’m a cop. Is this where we’re doing this?” Uncrossing his arms and pointed a finger at Duke.

Duke knew Nathan wouldn’t let him down. For all the issues they had between them, it was water under the bridge when they needed each other. Knowing he wasn’t happy about this arrangement though, Duke wasn’t going to push his luck. 

“Yeah. They should be here any minute now. The Gull is closed till dinner so I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone. The couriers are the Sandoval brothers, Joe and Nicky. You’ll remember them as the boys who allegedly accused me of stealing their cargo a few months back…and maybe their girlfriend…” 

At Nathan’s raised eyebrows, Duke couldn’t help but defend himself. 

“Hey now, I didn’t steal from them. Hand to God. Your people cleared me,” Duke fidgeted uncomfortably. “But I may have gotten together with both of their girlfriends.”

At that, Nathan threw his hands up in exasperation. “Of course you did.” He just shook his head in disbelief. “I hope they were worth it.”

“Ohhhh yeah. Definitely worth it.” Duke grinned unrepentant. He would have elaborated in more detail but the sound of a pickup truck pulling up stopped him. He reached behind the crates he was next to and picked up the crowbar. With the history he had with these guys, best to stay protected.

At the sound of the approaching truck, Nathan’s senses were on high alert. If Duke thought there was going to be a hint of trouble, it was a sure thing there’d be trouble. Nathan unsnapped his holster just in case.

Nathan noted three men in the truck, one in the truck bed and two in the front. The man in the passenger seat stepped out and took the crate from the man in the back.

“Guy in the back is Nicky Sandoval and the one coming towards us is his brother Joe. Not sure who the driver is.” Duke informed Nathan.

Nathan nodded and kept his eyes alert as the situation was unfolding. Joe Sandoval was no small guy at 6’4”, black hair, goatee, with a scar on his right cheek. His brother Nicky looked like his brother but was clean-shaven with a tattoo of some sort on his right forearm. Nathan couldn’t get a better description of the driver except that he was a blonde with a blue baseball cap.

“Your package as requested.” Looking right at Duke, Joe didn’t waste anytime, dropping the crate without any care for the contents inside. 

“Hey!” Duke shouted indignantly and took a step forward before he felt Nathan’s hand on his shoulder, lightly restraining him

Nathan wanted nothing more than to remain a silent party to this drop-off but knew he needed to keep Duke rational. 

“Just check the package and let’s get this over with.” Looking to Joe, he introduced himself. “Haven PD.” Joe simply stared back nonplussed.

“Fine,” Duke gritted out, glaring at Joe.

Using the crowbar, Duke popped the top off the crate and pulled out the vases for inspection. As he carefully looked them over for damage, Nathan gave Joe an intimidating look reminding him not to do anything stupid.

Satisfied the vases were okay, Duke pulled an envelope of money from behind his back and threw at Joe’s chest. 

“That’s the rest of the payment. Pleasure doing business with you. Now get out of here.” Duke smirked at Joe, “I’ll tell Melissa you send your regards.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed and before he could move more than a step towards Duke, Nathan was in front of him. 

“Uh uh. Turn around and get out of here.” Nathan pushed him back.

Joe turned his glare on Nathan trying to get him to back off. But after a beat, Joe jabbed his finger in the air at Duke as he walked away backwards, never taking his eyes off the two.

When Joe got back in the truck, Duke and Nathan both let out a breath and turned towards each other.

“Well that went well, I think.” Duke smirked.

Before Nathan could retort, he saw a gun out of the corner of his eye. He jumped towards Duke bringing him down with him behind the crates, just as shots were being fired. The tops of the crates they were hiding behind were being torn to pieces. Nathan pulled out his gun and returned fire the moment there was a break in the shooting. As he returned fire, Nicky Sandoval dropped to the truck bed as the driver sped off. Joe let off a couple of shots at Nathan, which had him dropping back down behind the crates.

Nathan turned to Duke who looked pissed as he glared at the remains of his Ming Vases where they were standing earlier. 

“Okay?” He asked.

“Of course I’m not okay. Look what they did to my merchandise! And I paid them!” Duke couldn’t help throwing Nathan an irritated look.

“Guess you should have left Melissa out of it then. I’m going to call it in and then you owe me lunch.” Rolling his eyes, Nathan got up.

Nathan ran to his truck and picked up the walkie. 

“Laverne, I need an APB out on Joe and Nicky Sandoval, last seen with a third unidentified blond, Caucasian male with a blue baseball cap riding in a white pickup truck. License plate “Alpha-Tango-Charlie-1-8-4.” Wanted in connection with a shootout outside on the piers by Grey Gull just now. Over.”

“Okay Hun. I’ll get it out there. Anything else?” She replied back.

Nathan sighed as he realized that Audrey had been right and would probably freak out once she heard about the APB. 

“Yes. Tell Parker no one was hurt and she can meet us down here. Thanks.”

“I’ll radio her. She was already on her way back to her place so it shouldn’t be too long.”

After thanking Laverne, Nathan dropped the walkie back into the truck and walked over to Duke who was staring at piece of the Ming vase he had picked up. 

“Still worth it?” He asked Duke.

Duke just rolled his eyes and threw the piece back down disappointedly. 

“Maybe not.” He released a deep breath and just looked out at the water. Turning back towards the Grey Gull, he waved for Nathan to follow him. “Come on. I’ll whip up some pancakes for you.”

“Parker’s on her way and you’re going to explain to her what happened.” Nathan’s eyes lit up at hearing about pancakes and he jogged to catch up with his personal lunch chef.

They walked in silence before he decided to ask the one question that had been nagging him this whole time. 

“Why didn’t you ask Parker to help out?” Nathan asked.

Duke groaned, knowing the inevitable question was going to pop up at some point. 

“Shouldn’t you be flattered, I asked you?” Duke deflected.

Seeing Nathan give him a look that said he had lost his mind. 

“It’s not a big deal. I went backwards in my phonebook and you were first. So lucky you.” Duke relented and tried to brush it off.

Nathan was about to retort that maybe he was unlucky when he felt a strange queasiness go through him as they moved along the side of the Grey Gull. He slowed his pace to see if it would come back. For a moment, he thought it must have been his imagination but then the wave hit him again and he staggered forward grabbing onto a post on the Gull’s dock as they passed by. 

“Duke….”

Duke stopped his ramblings at the tone in Nathan’s voice. Turning around he saw that Nathan was a several feet behind him and leaning on the dock rail and was looking more pale than Duke had ever seen him before. Taking a step towards him, Duke couldn’t keep the concern out of his voice. 

“Nathan? What’s…”

Before Duke could even ask what was wrong, Nathan’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

“Shit! Nathan!” Duke ran over to his friend, hearing a car pull up to the front of the restaurant. As he rolled Nathan over onto his back, Duke pulled his hand back only to find blood. “Shit! Shit! Shit! I need some help! Somebody call 911!” 

Audrey had just pulled up to the Grey Gull and was getting out of her car when she heard by Duke’s cry for help. There was desperation to it that she hadn’t heard before. Grabbing her walkie, she ran to the side of the building where Duke’s voice was coming from.

She skidded to a halt when she rounded the corner and saw Nathan on the ground and Duke rolling him over. She was broken out of her trance by Duke calling her name. Jumping into action she used the walkie to call for an ambulance, letting them know an officer was down. Satisfied that help was on its way, she ran over to Duke and Nathan.

Audrey skipped the pleasantries as she ran to Nathan’s side and cradled his head, brushing his hair from his forehead as Duke moved pushed his jacket to the side and tore his shirt open down the middle to try and find the wound. 

“Nathan! Come on Nathan, don’t do this to me.” Audrey yelled at him, trying to get him to open his eyes.

“Duke, what the hell happened?” Audrey looked to Duke for answers as Duke pushed Nathan’s shirt to the side searching for the source of the blood. 

Ignoring Audrey for the moment, he saw that Nathan had been shot on the right side. Taking off his own shirt, Duke quickly used it to put pressure on Nathan’s wound. With the combination of adrenaline, his Trouble and saving Duke by knocking him out of the way, Nathan must never have realized that he had been shot. All of the moving around he’d been doing since then must have only made the wound bleed more and the blood loss must have been why he collapsed. Shaking his head in disbelief that Nathan had been bleeding this entire time and neither of them knew it. Duke silently cursed the Sandoval brothers in his head.

Audrey didn’t know what was going on. Nathan it looked as if he had been shot and he was either too stubborn to tell Laverne when he called it in or he had no idea himself. She knew Nathan had a Superman complex but she didn’t think he’d ignore a gunshot wound so it must have been the latter. Seeing how Duke couldn’t take his eyes off Nathan’s wound, Audrey knew she’d need to stay calm if she had any chance of trying to figure out what was going on. But seeing the man you loved bleeding to death, made that tough.

From the moment, Nathan saved her life from going over that cliff; Audrey knew there was more to the good-looking brooding man. Over time, she realized that he was the only one she could trust and somehow their partnership had grown into something more without her even realizing it. She had been excited for their pancake dinner together but her kidnapping had put a damper on that. Since then, he never brought it up and the timing never seemed right for her to say something. Now as she was faced with the possibility of losing him, she cursed herself and him for wasting time they could have had together. 

Audrey took a calming breath as she continued to cradle Nathan’s head and brush her fingers through Nathan’s hair to calm down. 

“Duke? Hey, Duke, the ambulance is on the way okay. I need you to talk to me and tell me what happened.” She asked gently.

Forcing his eyes away from Nathan, Duke turned to Audrey and she saw only regret on his face. As much as Duke and Nathan gave each other a hard time, they truly did care for one another. 

“I need to know what happened.” Audrey asked again.

For the first time in a long time, Duke didn’t hesitate to cooperate. 

“I was getting a package and the courier’s and I have a history so I asked Nathan to help me out. The Sandoval brothers delivered the package and I paid them but before they left they started shooting at us. Nathan jumped behind a stack of crates taking me with him but he must have gotten hit in the process. He…He asked if I was okay but I never…I never even thought to ask…. He seemed fine…” Duke trailed off.

Audrey could put the pieces together from there. Nathan must not have known he had been shot with everything going on and why should Duke think any differently. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Audrey grabbed his attention before he could bury himself in self-recriminations. “It’s not your fault. Even if you had asked, he would have said he was fine. So don’t go blaming yourself.” 

In the background, Audrey could hear the ambulance pulling up and new it would be all right. Smoothing back his hair, Audrey leaned down to kiss his forehead. 

“It’s going to be okay. He’s going to be fine.” Moving to Nathan’s ear, she whispered fiercely, “Don’t you dare leave me, Nathan Wournos. I need you.”

******************************

Nathan could hear the telltale signs of being in the hospital as he struggled to open his eyes. He didn’t hurt but it was like his body refused to cooperate with him. It was strange actually because the only part of his body that he could feel was his right hand and then it hit him. Audrey.

He squeezed the hand holding his and groaned in frustration at not being able to open his eyes and see her. Then suddenly he felt her hand brushing the hair back from his face.

“Nathan? Come on, wake up for me. Let me see those pretty eyes.” Hearing her voice, gave Nathan renewed energy and he fought his body to open his eyes and blinked rapidly before the overhead lights came into focus. 

“Welcome back sleeping beauty.”

Nathan turned towards the voice and was greeted by Audrey’s smile as she continued to hold his hand and brush her fingers through his hair.

“H-Hi” Nathan croaked. 

“Hold on, let me get you some water.” Nathan heard from his other side. Turning his head he was mildly surprised to see Duke moving to get some water in a cup with a straw before giving it to him. 

Bringing the cup to Nathan’s face for him to drink, Duke smirked at the surprise on his face. 

“What? You think I was going to just let you bleed out and not make sure you didn’t sue me.” Duke joked. 

After taking a few sips and being more confident that he could actually speak, Nathan nodded that he could take the drink away. 

“Thanks Duke.” Nathan told him seriously and Duke knew he meant for more than just the water. 

Duke never thought he’d live to see the day that Nathan Wournos would thank him. He was momentarily stunned before he quickly recovered. 

“Yeah, let’s not mention this again. And while we’re at it, let’s not do this getting shot thing either. Now, I need to get back to my restaurant and clean up the mess you made.” At Nathan’s look of disbelief, Duke couldn’t hold back his laugh as he backed out of the room. “I’m kidding! Bye Audrey.”

“Bye!” Audrey laughed.

Turning back to Nathan, Audrey’s gaze softened as she brushed his cheek. 

“You had us worried. It’s been six hours since they brought you in.”

Savoring the feeling of her touch, Nathan closed his eyes.

“Sorry. It happened fast and I didn’t know that I had been shot.” Opening his eyes, he grew serious, “ Any word on the Sandoval brothers?”

“Yeah, we got them just as they were trying to leave town. They’re down at the station. You don’t have to worry about them,” Audrey answered. 

Getting up from her chair, Audrey sat on the edge of Nathan’s bed and held his hand in both of hers before taking a deep breath. 

“We need to talk.”

Audrey saw the apprehension in his eyes and moved quickly to assure him. 

“It’s nothing bad, I don’t think. It’s something we’ve both wanted, at least that’s what I thought. I guess I could be wrong but …”

“Parker!” Nathan interrupted. He looked amused when her mouth snapped shut, “Relax. Tell me.”

She looked at him and smiled. 

“I love you.” Her smile only grew at the look of pleasant surprise on Nathan’s face at hearing her words. He wasn’t the most expressive guy but Audrey knew how to read him after all this time.

Her smile quickly turned to confusion though when Nathan suddenly looked panicked and tried to pull his hand out of hers, shaking his head.

“No. You can’t love me. You’re too important to this town. It’s not possible.” Nathan spoke so quickly, it was almost as if it hurt to say.

Anger quickly took over the initial hurt as she crossed her arms and glared at Nathan. 

“What the hell do you mean I can’t love you? I’m pretty sure, I’m the one that decides who I love and don’t love, Nathan. And what the hell does the town have to do with us?”

Nathan groaned and covered his eyes. This should have been the happiest moment of his life before he realized he was being selfish and knew that once he told her she’d understand. 

“The Chief told me I couldn’t fall in love with you. That you were too important to this town. He said you wouldn’t be able to do what you needed to do, if we were together.” Moving his hands, he gave Audrey a sad smile. “I told him he was too late. Decided I’d ignore him like I’ve done most of my life.” Nathan paused before continuing, “But, then you were kidnapped and I realized he was right. I would only be holding you back from doing what you needed to do. If you hadn’t been making us dinner, you probably wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”

Reaching out, Audrey grabbed Nathan’s hand and held it tight, focusing only on what was important. 

“You told your dad he was too late?”

At Nathan’s weak nod, Audrey surged forward, grabbing Nathan’s head and bringing her lips to his and kissing him with everything she had. At first, Nathan froze at the sensory overload but soon, couldn’t help but return the kiss with all the pent-up emotion he’d been holding back for months. 

They both got so lost in the kiss that they forgot where they were until Audrey brushed against his IV as she leaned more on top of Nathan. Somewhere in the haze, Audrey realized that she could be making Nathan’s injury worse and he wouldn’t know it. Pulling back quickly with a smack of their lips, Audrey leaned her forehead against Nathan’s as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

When she felt more confident that she could speak, Audrey grinned at Nathan. 

“I love you Nathan Wournos and you aren’t getting rid of me. Even if I’m important to this town, you’re important to me and I can’t be me without you. So it’s only logical that we be together. Do I make myself clear?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am.” Nathan relaxed at her words and returned her grin.

Audrey kissed him quickly before sitting back and running her hand over the IV attached to Nathan’s hand. 

“Good because we also need to talk about you getting hurt.”

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.” Nathan scowled.

“Yes, it’s a big deal. You didn’t even know you had been shot, Nathan!” Audrey frowned at his response. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek and raised his eyes to hers when he looked away. “You walk around acting like you can’t be hurt.”

“I can’t get hurt.” Nathan interrupted.

Audrey shook her head in exasperation. 

“Fine. You can’t get hurt but you can be injured. Look at what happened today. Nathan, you may not feel it but if something hurts you, it can still harm you. You have a Trouble and because of that we need to be mindful of that. 

“Parker, I’m the chief, danger is a part of the job and I’m not going to just sit behind a desk. I won’t.” Pulling his face away, Nathan shot her a look of disbelief.

Audrey’s raised her eyebrows in surprise. 

“No. No. No. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I would never ask you to stop being yourself. I love who you are. I’m just saying we should have someone check you out after a situation. As a precaution. If you had checked yourself out, you might not have lost so much blood. Or better yet, let Duke do a quick once over to make sure you aren’t shot in the back.” 

At Nathan’s look of outrage, she hastened to assure him. 

“He felt horrible about what happened. Despite what you say, you trust him and he won’t joke around about this. Believe me. You didn’t see him.”

“Rare situation. Fine, I promise to get checked out.” Nathan leaned back on his pillow suddenly exhausted.

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Seal it with a kiss?” Audrey asked innocently. 

Nathan grinned at her Audrey’s innocent look. He could only nod his head. But just before they could seal the deal, he pulled back. 

“I love you.” He told her seriously. Audrey couldn’t stop the full-blown smile.

“Show me.” She whispered as he leaned back in and closed the distance and did just that.


End file.
